Elisabeth Ayrton

Kentish Well Pudding

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Serves

    8

Appears in

The Cookery of England

The Cookery of England

By Elisabeth Ayrton

Published 1975

This is a traditional farmhouse recipe which has pleased hungry men and delighted children since the seventeenth century and probably earlier. It is almost never made now, and this is a pity. It is too heavy for the urban and sedentary lives most of us lead for most of the time today, but it is splendid for a cold day in the Christmas holidays.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. (½ k.) self-raising flour
  • 6 oz. (180 g.) shredded suet
  • 6 oz. (180 g.) currants
  • ½ lb. (240 g.) unsalted butter
  • ¼ lb. (120 g.) soft brown sugar

Method

Mix the flour, suet and currants with water to form a soft dough. Roll out about 1½ inches (4 cm.) thick and press into a large well-greased pudding basin, reserving a quarter of the suet crust for the top. Put the butter in one piece in the centre and the sugar round the butter to fill up the well. Cover with the remaining crust, pinching the edges firmly together. Cover closely with foil and steam for 2 hours. Turn out carefully. When cut, melted butter and sugar should run out, though part will have been absorbed, making a rich and delicious centre.

©1975 The Estate of Elizabeth Ayrton